Still Sequoia, with a glimpse of Kings Canyon

We were all very hungry by this point.  It was past lunchtime west coast time, which means our bodies were thinking we missed lunch completely and were asking for dinner.  Thankfully, there was a lodge on the way to our next point of interest, so we stopped to eat.

Luckily, we were there during the three hours that the lodge restaurant was open for lunch.  I don't think I've ever had a quick meal at a hotel/lodge/resort restaurant, and this was no exception.  That's okay.  I was just glad we found food!

Think they are getting tired of me taking pictures?  My smartass husband is showcasing his bottle of malt vinegar like a catalog model.  

We headed on down the road and stopped at an overlook where you could see King's Canyon in the distance.  

At this point, we realized that even though we were crossing into King's Canyon National Park several times on the twisting road, there was no way we were going to make it to the actual canyon before dark.  Time to cross that off our list.

Our next stop was to see the General Grant tree.  There was an impressive grove you walked through to get to it.

Plus a downed tree that has been there for hundreds of years, completely intact.

There were pictures of gold miners camping in the trunk and of cavalry soldiers using it like a barn for their horses.  It's been there awhile.

We walked the rest of the path to the Grant tree.

Daniel will still randomly state how many ping pong balls the Grant Tree could hold or any other factoid you can think of.  That kid loves numbers.

Our last stop in the park was another overlook.  The views were simply gorgeous.

We headed back toward Fresno and made plans to meet one of my friends that lives in California for dinner.  I suggested In-N-Out Burger, since virtually everyone that has ever been to or lived in California said we need to eat there.

I got the Double Double.  It seemed to be the most popular, so why not?

Heidi managed to find us, even after sticking it out through a traffic jam that added an extra 45 minutes onto her 2 hour drive over.  Almost 3 hours in a car just to see me?  That's a friend. 

We enjoyed the meal and the company before we headed back to our hotel to crash and sleep.  What a day!